Sam Geiser is a ‘top Geiser’ where house and techno are concerned. Under the alias Deetron, he’s achieved much within electronic dance these past 20 or so years.
It all started back in 1992 when Geiser’s childhood love of jazz, and subsequent teen obsession with hip-hop and house, finally converted to his first DJing work in Swiss hometown Bern. Gigs at the local community youth centre became gigs in the fully-fledged clubs of neighbouring cities, and eventually gigs all over the world. By the end of the decade, Deetron had forged himself an opportunity to produce and progress his career yet further.
“When I started to play out, Switzerland had a really big house and techno scene and there were a lot of big rave parties as well as a lot of clubs covering that kind of music” Geiser recalls. “It was certainly tough to start building a name, as is usually the case when working in the music business, but I was lucky enough to get a residency in Zürich [at the legendary Trax club] at an early stage.”
If Gang Starr hooked Geiser on hip-hop, and E-Dancer’s seminal Pump The Move then lured him to uptempo dance, Switzerland’s fast growing house and techno scenes would cement that love. During the mid-Nineties, several pivotal Swiss clubs opened including Zurich’s Rohstofflager; the city’s fledgling techno Street Parade lengthened – today, in light of Love Parade’s demise, it is Europe’s biggest techno-parade – and other local artists, Ripperton, Jamie Lewis and Jay Sanders for example, were starting to find their feet. It was the ideal, nurturing environment.
Deetron’s earliest productions were muscular techno affairs for labels such as Dave Angel’s Rotation, Carl Cox’s Intec and Ghent-based Music Man. One particularly punchy track Don’t You Know Why?, on 2000’s Intec EP Alien Entertainment, immediately found favour with Detroit royalty Jeff Mills and Robert Hood, and effectively catapulted Deetron’s profile to the next level.
Debut album Twisted, released through Music Man in 2006, was able to balance those primeval Detroit head-rushes with a mellower home-listening sensibility in impressive style. It represented a significant evolution of the Deetron sound; one blurring house and techno’s distinct boundaries and engaging purists from both camps alike.
“In my opinion an artist's musical evolution comes naturally, it's not something which you can force to happen” Geiser explains. “My music has gone into a more melodic or musical direction over the years and I really enjoy working with vocals as well. Furthermore I believe that I have found a rather distinctive sound, especially when it comes to my remixes.”
The most recent stretches of Deetron’s highly-rated discography include deep ‘n’ haunting anthem I Cling (2007), classic Robert Owens-style vocal Let’s Get Over It (2008) and Seth Troxler collaboration Each Step (2010). Not forgetting all those remixes – remixes for Marco Bailey, Osunlade, Steve Bug, Paul Randolph and Danny Howells (just) to name but a few. Deetron is a double-decade dance veteran, yes, but it is within the last two years that his name has truly, truly landed.
“Well, judging from the amount of remix requests and the feedback I get right now I would definitely agree” he responds. “Yes, it’s most likely down to the singles and remixes I’ve been releasing, as they seem to have been particularly well received.”
Being that his current popularity has been propelled thanks, in large part, to remixes, where exactly does Deetron stand with them? Where, in other words, does he strike the balance between remix work giving his career financial and PR stimulus, and, on the other hand, another important creative outlet?
“Remixes are a totally different approach to making music and if the original song and the parts are interesting then I find a remix extremely fulfilling” Geiser stresses. “Remixing, to me, is similar to co-operation with an artist, and I seek to take the original in a different direction and to give it my personal touch. I tend to spend as much time working on a remix as on one of my own tracks, therefore I only accept remixes which are interesting to me from a creative point of view.”
Deetron is a self-confessed perfectionist, spending as much time as feels necessary to hone his output: “I’m very self-critical about my music, which is why it usually takes me a really long time to finish tracks or remixes. But I consider self-criticism a help rather than a hindrance, because it prevents me from releasing too much.”
Those almost tortuous levels of quality control are firmly place for the rest of 2011. His current remix of Ben Westbeech’s ‘Falling’ is being hammered by pretty much everyone going, but while Deetron has releases scheduled, they seem to be only those well considered and thoughtfully constructed. “I’m currently in the process of finishing two new solo EPs,” he casually remarks, “as well as something for Versatile [the French label] with Ripperton, and remixes for Akabu [Dave Lee’s deep house alias] and Catz n Dogz. That’s it….”
Well nearly. There’s also the small matter of Deetron’s second studio album to consider. He’s been been working on it for many, many months now, and by all accounts it’s almost there, but it remains a subject skilfully avoided. True to past interview form, Herr Geiser is reluctant to divulge detail where specific release dates have yet to be confirmed; just in case things take longer to finish. The perfectionist at work again….
What we do know is that Hercules & Love Affair are involved on one track; and that Deetron’s sophomore album, directly largely towards the dancefloor, should feature some other major collaborations. Time, of course, will tell but Deetron, it seems, is happy with his current progress.
He’s happy about his touring commitments too – a constant stream of dates here, there and everywhere, giving him an opportunity to demonstrate the immense technical DJ skills with which he is now unavoidably associated. For Deetron the DJ, it’s about creating exciting live remixes from the tunes he cuts and blends – a minimum of three on the go at any one time.
“I work with the classic DJ-setup consisting of turntables and CD-players which obviously has limited possibilities” he opens, “but I try to push the limits within these boundaries by for instance using short extracts of the tracks I play, accapellas, layering beats and so forth. It’s about giving a really creative, enjoyable performance.”
In just the last few weeks, Deetron has played America, Spain, Italy, Israel, London, Holland and his native Switzerland. He’s in as good a globe-trotting position as anyone to give a measured view of the current clubbing landscape. “Tools and beats are important but I think what we need more often at this point are tracks to remember, anthems really” he says. “Musicality and melody are essential I believe, as there are a few tracks with these qualities that are far more easily recognised or remembered after a night out.”
It’s a landscape still rapidly and furiously changing; carpeted, increasingly so, with digital releases and soaked up by sprawling Soundcloud-style web-share services. “Due to the mass of digital releases these days it has become much more difficult to find great music,” Deetron laments. “It’s never been easy to make a living in music and nowadays it’s really challenging, but I have my long-term goals. I want to constantly evolve my music and stay as independent as I possibly can. For me, the future still looks very promising and I’m really excited about everything to come.”
There really is, one feels, plenty to come…
Words: Ben Lovett
